Blending households with stepchildren can bring unique challenges that test the limits of patience, love, and personal space. For one man in particular, the pressure became so intense that drastic measures seemed like the only solution.
He explained what happened.
My wife passed away in November 2022. She left me three adult stepchildren who have all been very clear that I am not their parent despite being in their lives for over ten years. Their father has retired to the Philippines.
They are 21, 22, 25. Their mother and I have been helping them out with a place to live because our city has a very high cost of living. The youngest is in school still, but the other two are employed.
After their mother passed away, they stopped doing anything around the house. We had been charging no rent so they could save money. The older two were responsible for their own bills other than that. I paid for power, water, Internet, and all the utilities. We even provided food for the youngest.
Now they do nothing to help around the house. I have had to hire a cleaning lady to help. It’s stupid.
So I put the house up for sale. The price has gone up so much since I bought it that I could retire to the Philippines if that was my thing.
It took no time at all to sell, and I’m moving out to my cabin. I gave each kid $10,000 and told them that the house was sold. They aren’t idiots, they had seen the for sale sign and been around for the open houses.
Now they are getting upset with me for throwing them out of their home. I guess they did some of their growing up there, but they never treated it like much more than a place to sleep.
I think that their mom would be disgusted with how they treated me and our home.
They pooled their money and got an apartment, but if they count on only the money I gave them, they will have nothing in a year.
What do you think about this situation?